April 2012 - March 2013 - GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca

“Lesson plans are
prepared for us so that
we can incorporate them
into our classroom.”
“Everything you need is
on the website.”
CONNECTING
everyday Canadians with financial literacy
“Good financial
habits don’t have
to be complicated.”
“Put some money away
for my future; toward
college or university.”
“Try to be more conscious
of what I spend and how
I spend it.”
ANNUAL REPORT
2012 – 2013
An Ontario Securities Commission initiative
Contents
Message from the chair 2
Message from the president
3
New ways of connecting with Canadians 4
Connecting educators
with financial literacy resources 6
Connecting Canadians
with financial literacy 8
Connecting the dots
to gain invaluable insight 10
2012 – 2013 financial summary 12
Our governance
13
Our highlights, by the numbers 14
Investor Education Fund
20 Queen Street West, Suite 2200
Toronto ON M5H 3S8
Visit us at: GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 416-309-4490
Find us on:
Youtube.com/InvestorEDFund
Facebook.com/GetSmarterAboutMoney
Twitter.com/smarter_money
Blog.getsmarteraboutmoney.ca
(INSERT FSC LOGO)
Mission
We are dedicated to
the development and delivery of engaging, unbiased
financial education to help people make smarter financial and investment decisions
throughout their lives.
We are incorporated as
a non-profit organization funded by settlements
and fines from enforcement proceedings of the Ontario Securities Commission.
We operate as
an independent organization governed by a board of directors
and supported by the Ontario Securities Commission.
An Ontario Securities Commission initiative
Message from the chair
“IEF stays connected to Ontarians and Canadians – remaining close to their concerns, responding to their
information and education needs, and continually using research to anticipate future opportunities and issues.”
Paul K. Bates
In the world of financial literacy, the
research-focused perspective of Investor
Education Fund (IEF) stands out and is
at the core of everything the organization
does. Research tunes IEF in to what
concerns Canadians at every stage of their
lives, provides insight into what people
know about their finances and reveals
what they don’t know. This past fiscal year,
IEF’s research enhanced our collective
knowledge of:
•P
lanning for retirement (Home Equity as a
Source of Retirement Income survey)
• Financial literacy among high school
students (Youth Financial Literacy study)
PAGE 2
• The basics of money management
(Benchmarking Financial
Knowledge survey)
• Canadian investment behavior and
savings and debt levels (Omnibus Poll:
Canadian Budgeting, Saving and Investing
Behaviour)
IEF also uses research to ensure
that it delivers the right messages to the
proper audiences through the optimal
channels. The effectiveness of this strategy
is witnessed by the success of IEF’s
websites and social media properties, and
its partnerships with government decision
makers, educational organizations and
the media.
IEF stays connected to Ontarians
and Canadians – remaining close to their
concerns, responding to their information
and education needs, and continually using
research to anticipate future opportunities
and issues. By actively gaining insight into
the knowledge, values and behaviours of
our fellow citizens, IEF strives to develop
innovative ways to realize its mandate of
creating a more financially literate nation.
On behalf of the board of directors,
I congratulate the team at IEF for another
effective and impressive year of enhancing
financial literacy throughout Ontario and
Canada.
Paul K. Bates
Chair, Investor Education Fund
Message from the president
INVESTOR EDUCATION FUND
ANNUAL REPORT 2012 – 2013
“Developing helpful financial information is key to financial literacy, but you need
to reach people in memorable ways to be effective.”
Its introduction to grades 4 through 12 has
been encouraging and has given us great
momentum to create ongoing, sustainable
changes in how this topic is taught in
schools. This success was accompanied by:
Tom Hamza
Forging real connections with Canadians
– that’s what IEF’s work is really all about.
Developing helpful financial information
is key to financial literacy, but you need
to reach people in memorable ways to be
effective. I’m pleased to say IEF continues
to do this as we connect with Canadians
through better insight, increased clarity
and memorable interactions.
Continued support of financial literacy
education in Ontario’s school system
was a major IEF focus this fiscal year.
With support from the Ontario Securities
Commission and the Ministry of Education,
IEF created one of the most extensive
packages of teacher- and student-friendly
financial literacy resources available.
• The launch of InspireFinancialLearning.ca
– Ontario’s bilingual financial literacy
resource for teachers and students –
with more than 18,000 lesson plans
and teaching materials downloaded in
six months
• Our financial literacy conference with the
Ministry of Education brought together
elementary and high school teachers to
focus on financial literacy teaching
strategies
• The first Financial Literacy Youth Summit
with participation by school boards,
media, teachers and more than
500 students
For those beyond the Ontario school
system, we continued to forge strong
connections and develop innovative
resources. This year, we reached more
people by enhancing our online
presence through:
•N
ew content and tools on
GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca and a vastly
improved user experience which included
the strategic use of infographics to
illustrate financial concepts
•T
he addition of CTV Consumer Reporter
Pat Foran as a contributor to our Masters
of Money series
• An extension of our social media outreach
on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook
In 2013 – 2014, IEF will focus on
retirement and risk as our primary themes.
Armed with breakthrough research,
we will educate Ontarians about these
important subjects through Canada’s
most popular financial literacy website,
GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca.
We look forward to reaching more
people and making a real difference in the
way that they perceive and understand
financial matters.
Tom Hamza
President, Investor Education Fund
PAGE 3
Launched
InspireFinancialLearning.ca
Held our first
Financial Literacy Youth Summit
Trained
teachers
to support teachers and students in
to connect face-to-face
to bring financial literacy to their classrooms
Developed
new online tools
to help everyday Canadians take control of their financial future
Introduced two new
episodes of Cranial Cash Clash
Kept current on
the issues
to involve players in financial
to provide Canadians with resources that matter to them
their financial education journey
with Ontario high school students
learning
PAGE 5
Connecting educators with financial literacy resources
InspireFinancialLearning.ca
launched
Mind Over Money lesson plans
Last year, IEF added
InspireFinancialLearning.ca to its family of
online resources. The site is a rich source
of curriculum ideas and support geared to
bring financial literacy to the classroom.
It complements GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca
but is uniquely focused on its audience of
educators.
Can we count you in?
IEF developed and launched a suite of new
financial literacy lessons and interactive
resources for use in Ontario schools.
Designed to be integrated into a variety of
subjects in grades 4 through 12, the lesson
plans and teaching materials are available
in English and French and have been
downloaded 18,182 times by teachers since
August 2012.
A Sound Investment
GRADE
6
My Furry Friend: Costs of Pet Ownership
IEF hosted an Ontario educator symposium
where we introduced resources to support
the province’s new financial literacy
curriculum. The event also featured the
Minister of Education, CTV Consumer
Reporter Pat Foran and a Funny Money
presentation by James Cunningham.
This lesson turns mathematics into a “live” challenge! Students will calculate and compare the cost of
caring for their favourite pet for one year, and explore some of the personal benefits of owning a pet.
Subject
Mathematics
Suggested Timing
40 minutes
Financial Literacy
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will:
• usefinancialsymbolsandterminology;
• makesimplefinancialdecisionsusingabudgettemplate;
• comparethebenefitsandcostsofspendingdecisions.
GRADE
10
Assessing profit margins
Curriculum
Expectations
When setting the price of a new product in the market, how can a business strike a balance between
attracting consumers to buy its products and earning as much profit per unit as possible? In this lesson,
Mathematics, Grades 1-8 (2005)
students will investigate how mathematics can be used in the business world to set appropriate prices.
Mathematics
Prerequisite knowledge: students must be familiar with the components of a quadratic equation such as
Mathematical Process:
Connecting
vertex, zeroes,
etc. Students must also know how to “complete the square”.
• Makeconnectionsamongmathematicalconceptsandprocedures,andrelate
mathematicalideastosituationsorphenomenadrawnfromothercontexts
(e.g., othercurriculumareas,dailylife,sports).
We produced new
engaging lessons and
interactive tools to
enable Ontario teachers
to effectively educate
their students.
Subject
MPM2D - Principles of Mathematics
Number Sense and Numeration
• Representrelationshipsusingunitrates.(Sampleproblem:Iffivebatteriescost
Suggested timing
70 minutes
$4.75,whatisthecostof1battery?)
Financial literacy
At the end of this lesson, students will:
Data Management and Probability
objectives
• understandhowabusinesssetsthepriceofagood;
• Collectandorganizediscreteorcontinuousprimarydataandsecondarydata
• describefactorsthatcouldimpactthepriceofagood.
(e.g., electronicdatafromwebsites)anddisplaythedataincharts,tables,and
We prepared inspirational
videos to involve teachers
in educating the next
generation of Ontarians.
graphsthathaveappropriatetitles,labels,andscalesthatsuittherangeand
distributionofthedata,usingavarietyoftools.
Curriculum
expectations
Mathematics, Grades 9 and 10 (2005 revised)
Principles of Mathematics (MPM2D)
Quadratic Relations of the Form y=ax2 +bc+c
Solveproblemsarisingfromarealisticsituationrepresentedbyagraphoran
equationofaquadraticrelation,withandwithouttheuseoftechnology.
Assessment
Collect student worksheets
What you need
• Worksheet(AppendixA)
• TIgraphingcalculator
Minds on
Teacheropenswiththefollowingconsideration:“Whenabusinessintroducesanew
productintothemarket,whyisthepricetheysetimportant?”Thediscussionshould
lead students to understand that price affects whether a consumer will purchase the
productanditaffectsthenetprofitofthebusiness.
PAGE 1
Explaintostudentsthathavinganunderstandingofthemathematicsofhowpricing
workscansupportaretailerinensuringhe/sheisnotovervaluingorundervaluing
productssoldtoconsumers.
PAGE 1
Investor Education Fund’s
valued partners
Investor Education Fund benefited
from strategic partnerships with several
organizations in 2012 – 13, furthering
our efforts to enhance financial literacy
among Canadians:
Online education –
Financial Consumer Agency of
Canada (FCAC)
In September 2012, FCAC launched
Your Financial Toolkit with support
from IEF and l’Autorité des marchés
financiers. The online version has drawn
150,000 visits.
PAGE 6
Teacher education – Toronto Star
IEF worked with the Toronto Star
to offer the Toronto Star Classroom
Connection program, Money: It’s Up
To You. The free instructional kits were
distributed to 1,000 Ontario teachers.
High school student education –
Investment Industry Regulatory
Organization of Canada (IIROC)
IEF and IIROC continue to co-fund
Funny Money programs for high
school students. Last year, 198 shows
were delivered in English and French
reaching more than 78,929 students
across Canada.
INVESTOR EDUCATION FUND
ANNUAL REPORT 2012 – 2013
FUNNY PAY SOMEONE FINANCIAL RIGHT
GOOD LAUNCH BILLION
FLYS
PARENTS
CASH
OWE
HI
DEBIT
JOB
LOL
SMARTER SPEND
LOVE
SMART ONTARIO RICH MOM
CLOTHES 100
BEST
TIME TWEETS
FLM2012FOOD LITERACY
HAPPY
At the Financial Literacy Youth Summit (FLYS), the
conversation extended to social media. This word cloud
illustrates the top themes shared by students at the
summit via Twitter.
Financial Literacy Youth Summit
More than 500 Ontario high school
students participated in the first Financial
Literacy Youth Summit in Richmond Hill.
The event was hosted by CTV’s Pat Foran
and included a Funny Money program with
James Cunningham. A crash course in how
to manage money, the Summit enabled
IEF to provide attending students with an
entertaining yet meaningful approach to
learning important financial basics.
#FLYS
When Funny Money’s James Cunningham asked
participating students to share what they spend the
most on each month, here’s what they Tweeted:
@smarter_money I spend my money on clothes
and entertainment, such as suits, dining and
video games. I really gotta spend less #FLYS
Posted on November 1, 2012
@smarter_money I spend too much money
on food! #diningout #FLYS
Posted on November 1, 2012
I’m in debt from my parents for life!
Please teach me #FLYS @smarter_money
SO GLAD I’M HERE
Posted on November 1, 2012
They talked – we listened
We listened to what Ontario students
were saying and this helped us start
a discussion about the gap between
expectations and reality.
PAGE 7
Connecting Canadians with financial literacy
IEF attracted more than 1.8 million visits to our online content during the past year,
a 14% increase over the previous year.
Continually enlivening
online content
Last year, we introduced several new
sections and features:
IEF continued to evolve
GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca to ensure it
remains a leading source of engaging
financial education content that supports
financial literacy.
•8
Universal Truths About Your Money –
A segmented eight-instalment campaign,
each on a different theme and with its
own educational resources
These and other enhancements are a part
of IEF’s commitment to ensure its online
resources remain a relevant and enticing
means of imparting financial literacy to
Canadians. With a 14% increase in traffic,
IEF and its digital properties attracted
more than 1.8 million visits this year.
Building IEF’s social media presence
Visits to IEF online content
Number of visits (in thousands)
2,000
1,828
1,600
1,385
1,500
1,000
764
500
0
424
08 – 09
09 – 10
10 – 1 1
Fiscal years 2008 – 2013
1 1 – 12
1 2 – 13
•M
oney and Families – A new website
section that addresses topical issues
related to families, women and teaching
kids about money
• Tools and Calculators – A new addition to
IEF’s family of mobile-friendly tools and
calculators: the Retirement cash
flow calculator
IEF used social media to strengthen its
engagement with Canadians, extending its
influence and awareness of its resources.
Through active and ongoing Facebook and
Twitter outreach campaigns, regular posts,
reader polls and blog posts, IEF increased
the size of its social media community by
58% in 2012 – 2013.
THANKS
SPEND HAPPY
OWE INVESTMENT
FRAUD FLYS
MILLION
FUNNYMONEYMAN
WEEK
KNOW
GOOD
BANK
SPOT
TIP
SMARTER
FPM2013
INVEST
LITERACY
FINANCIAL
GREAT WATERLOO
FRAUD RETIREMENT
TIPS
8TRUTHS PARENTS
DOUGH
This word cloud illustrates what the public
was saying about IEF on social media.
PAGE 8
INVESTOR EDUCATION FUND
ANNUAL REPORT 2012 – 2013
Cranial Cash Clash: 2 new episodes
Masters of Money
Community initiatives
Cranial Cash Clash – a financial literacy
self-assessment game available online and
via Android and Apple mobile devices
– was augmented last year with two
new themed segments: Gift Thrift and
Family Financial Faceoff. Each engaging
and playful episode adds practical
knowledge and encourages positive
money behaviours. Analysis of plays on the
complete series reveals a need for further
education in tackling personal debt,
investing soundly and preparing properly
for retirement.
The popular Masters of Money – blogs
from some of Canada’s best known and
most respected sources of financial and
investment knowledge – saw their ranks
grow with the addition of CTV Consumer
Reporter Pat Foran.
In the past fiscal year, IEF continued its
community support program. Through its
two 2012 partners, Junior Achievement of
Central Ontario and JVS, and its four 2013
partners, JVS, Ryerson University’s $tart
$mart, Toronto Neighbourhood Centres,
and The Working Centre, IEF connected
youths, newcomers and low-income
individuals with financial literacy learning.
Topics ranged from tips on tax breaks
designed to help parents to knowing the
hallmarks of investment fraud. Masters of
Money also began offering visitors video
blogs for the first time.
Connecting with impact
In the coming year, we will shift the focus of our performance analytics to measure
conversions rather than focus on outcomes, and measure conversions rather than
traffic volume. A conversion is an online interaction where we can extrapolate that the
user has learned something about money management or investing. Examples include
watching an entire video, using a calculator and visiting multiple pages in succession.
PAGE 9
Connecting the dots to gain invaluable insight
Research is the foundation for IEF’s
initiatives and activities. Data provides us
with invaluable, strategic and practical
insight that shows us where we can best
support Canadians in improving their
financial literacy. But simply gathering and
reporting the facts isn’t enough.
IEF breaks down barriers by interpreting
data and presenting it in engaging and
memorable ways. We communicate our
research findings through infographics
that visually illustrate key concepts, depict
trends and provide motivation for gaining
knowledge and changing behaviours.
We weave this knowledge into the content
that we develop.
Home Equity as a Source
of Retirement Income*
•5
0% of homeowners aged 50
and up expect to consume their
life savings within 10 years
• 24% of homeowners expect
debt on their principal residence
post-retirement; 27% don’t know
how they will pay it off
• 48% have never considered
selling their principal residence
for retirement income
PAGE 10
*The survey was developed in January 2013 by
The Brondesbury Group via online interviews conducted
with a representative group of 1,500 current and former
homeowners across Canada.
INVESTOR EDUCATION FUND
ANNUAL REPORT 2012 – 2013
Youth Financial
Literacy Study**
•O
nly 40% of respondents feel
they are somewhat or very
prepared to manage their
personal finances after high
school
• Students cite paying for
education after high school as
their biggest money worry, yet
only 30% are actually saving
for school
• 69% of students think personal
finance lessons should be
taught in the classroom
Other IEF Studies
•C
anadians’ Obstacles to Saving and
Investing (2012) – Money issues among
different income groups in Canada
• Canadian Budgeting, Saving and
Investing Behaviour (2012) – Financial
behaviour of Canadians
Full reports and relevant infographics
for all studies can be viewed at
GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca.
**The survey was developed in June 2012 by
The Brondesbury Group via 15-minute online interviews.
All 400 respondents were English-speaking secondary
school students in Ontario.
PAGE 11
IEF financial summary
For the year ended March 31, 2013
2013
Revenue
Contributions
$4,050,000
Interest income
16,878
4,066,878
Expenses
Public awareness programs 1,574,509
General operating expenses 654,246
Education initiatives 572,531
Outreach programs 217,018
Development of online resources 508,559
Amortization163,642
Research projects
54,098
3,744,603
Excess of revenues over expenses
$322,275
This information has been derived from the audited financial statements of IEF for the year ended March 31, 2013.
PAGE 12
Our governance
IEF is governed by a diverse board of
directors. Each member of the board brings
expertise in the areas of financial services,
securities regulation and education.
IEF’s board is responsible for:
•P
roviding operational direction to IEF
• Deciding on IEF’s business affairs and
sponsors
• Advising on public education content
Our 2013 – 2014 board of directors
Paul K. Bates, Chair
Paul K. Bates, FCMA, is special advisor
to the president of McMaster University.
He was formerly a commissioner of the
Ontario Securities Commission (OSC),
as well as a former dean and industry
professor in financial management services
at the DeGroote School of Business at
McMaster University, and a past adjunct
professor at the University of Toronto’s
Rotman School of Management.
Tom Hamza, President
Tom Hamza has more than a decade
of experience in financial services
management consulting at Deloitte and
A.T. Kearney, and as a member of the
executive team at Futura Financial.
INVESTOR EDUCATION FUND
ANNUAL REPORT 2012 – 2013
Directors
Mary G. Condon
Lawyer and professor Mary G. Condon
teaches securities law at Osgoode Hall
Law School and also directs and teaches in
its part-time LLM program, specializing in
securities law. She is a commissioner at the
OSC and was appointed a vice-chair of the
OSC on June 1, 2011.
Julia Dublin
Julia Dublin practises corporate and
securities law. Her clients include public
and private issuers, registrants, individual
investors and public-sector organizations.
Julia is an adjunct professor with Osgoode
Hall Law School and has been retained
as an expert witness on business and
regulatory subjects.
Lawrence (Lorie) Haber
Lorie Haber is a former financial industry
executive and corporate and securities
lawyer. He is a past member of the
Securities Advisory Committee to the
OSC and was recently a member of the
Working Group on Financial Literacy,
which provided the Government of
Ontario with recommendations for
including financial literacy education in
the province’s curriculum.
Susan Britton Payne
Susan Britton Payne is a marketing
executive specializing in brand
management for financial services, with a
career spanning more than 35 years. Susan
is president and chief executive officer
of Grace Hill Inc. She is a Fellow of the
Canadian Securities Institute and a Member
of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Rozanne E. Reszel
Rozanne E. Reszel, FCA, CFA, ICD.D, is
president and chief executive officer of the
Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF),
a fund created by the investment industry
to ensure client assets are protected if a
CIPF member becomes bankrupt.
Elaine Wyatt
Elaine Wyatt is the principal of Wyatt
Strategic Communications, a consulting
firm that works with senior Canadian
public companies to improve the quality
of their communications with investment
analysts, institutional investors and
retail shareholders.
PAGE 13
1,828,143 visits to IEF’s digital properties
432,152 visits to the blog, doubling
last year’s blog traffic
453 news stories about IEF in Canada
Connecting
everyday
Canadians
with
financial
literacy
714 teachers trained at our financial literacy workshops
78,929 students laughed and learned about
personal finance at 192 Funny Money presentations across Canada
18,182
lesson plans and teaching materials
downloaded from InspireFinancialLearning.ca